A baseball card hobby blog…

Month: August 2016

I was really excited to get this picture of Jim Landis in the mail today. I had been looking for a good photo of this two-time All Star and five-time Gold Glove winner. This photo from Baseball Monthly turned up on Ebay so I jumped on it. I love the sepia-tone color of the image and the framing of the shot. Mr. Landis was nice enough to sign it with a nice inscription to Cameron. It reads:

“Cameron – Keep your eye on the ball! Your friend – Jim Landis”

Landis played for six teams in his 11 year career and is considered one of the best defensive center fielders in major league history. He was the first American League baseball player to win 4 consecutive Gold Glove Awards and one of his proudest achievements is the fact that he averaged only 1 error per season in his career. Landis batted .247 with 93 home runs and 467 RBIs during his career. He played in the 1959 World Series and was voted by fans to Chicago’s 27-player “Team of the Century” in 2000.

An interesting bit of information I found on him in this outstanding interview, Landis was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 1952. He spent two years in the minors before being called to military service in 1954 and was stationed in Alaska where in addition to his regularly assigned duties, his other “job” was to pick up volcanic rocks from the baseball fields. Alaska has a lot of volcanoes and apparently they spew rocks out into the sky which then fall onto the baseball fields.

This piece will be a cherished addition to Cameron’s collection. Mr. Landis has always been not only a generous through-the-mail signer for his fans, but very involved in the lives of those around him. He is a true gentleman, U.S. Serviceman, and exemplary sportsman.

The other day, while sorting through my collection; I came across two pieces that actually fit into a pretty funny story that I once read. I’ve always loved the lighter side of the game and this story certainly fits that bill.

On August 14, 1935 as the Brooklyn Dodgers were hosting the Chicago Cubs at the Polo Grounds, colorful Dodger outfielder Frenchy Bordagaray landed himself on second base. Brooklyn Manager Casey Stengel, who was coaching first base, called time-out and walked over to Frenchy.

“Now looka-here Frenchy,” said Stengel. “I want you to stand on this here bag until you see the batter actually hit the ball in play. I mean stand right on it. Don’t take a lead, don’t even move away from it six inches. Do you understand what I’m saying to you Frenchy?”

“Why certainly,” Frenchy replied.

The explicit instruction was necessary as Frenchy had a penchant for getting picked off of second base.

Moments later, Cub pitcher Larry French spun around and tossed a pickoff throw to second base. The shortstop, Billy Jurges snatched the throw and tagged Frenchy for the out.

On his way back to the dugout, Frenchy was approached by a very irritated Stengel.
“Whatsa matter with you? Weren’t you standing on the bag like I told ya? How could you get picked off?” Stengel inquired.

With a shrug, Frenchy simply said, “I haven’t the slightest idea! I did just as you told me. I stood right there on the bag, not even moving six inches off of it! I just stood there tapping my foot on the bag waiting for the hitter to bang one.”

“I see,” said Stengel. “Then how did Billy manage to put you out?” he asked.

Throwing his hands up in frustration, Frenchy said, “Beats me Boss, he must have tagged me out in between taps!”

Little Cameron woke up early this morning. To give Mom a quiet house and a chance to sleep in today, we packed up a little bag of supplies and headed out to run some errands. My parents live about 15 minutes away so we decided to bring “Sunny and Pappa-Daddy” Egg McMuffins for breakfast. My birthday was last week so my Mom handed me a small gift bag with a gift and a page from last week’s Virginia Pilot. The article was from the travel section and featured a quick story on the opening of the Jim Catfish Hunter museum in Hertford North Carolina. Located in the Perquimans County Chamber of Commerce building, the exhibition takes up two rooms and features memorabilia from Hunter’s high school days through his major league baseball years with the Athletics and the Yankees.

At first glace, Jim Hunter may be seen as one of the more “colorful” baseball Hall of Famers. The nickname “Catfish” gives that impression. The nickname was actually given to him by the owner of the Oakland Athletics Charlie Finley. When Jim Hunter signed his first professional baseball contract, Finley asked if he had a nickname. “Jimmy” was Hunter’s response.

Seeing that “Jimmy” wouldn’t be giving Finley very many promotional opportunities, he fabricated a story on the spot – “You left home when you were 6 years old. Your momma and daddy couldn’t find you. When they did finally find you, you had landed two catfish and had a third on the line. They have been calling you ‘Catfish’ ever since.”

After listening to this new story about himself, Hunter said, “Mr. Finley, no one has EVER called me ‘Catfish.'”

Finley simply said, “I just gave you $75,000.”

“Yes, sir. My name is ‘Catfish,'” Hunter replied.

Hertford is just a few hours from me and makes for a nice day trip. I’ll certainly be taking Cameron down there to check it out once he’s old enough to appreciate it.